Ratan Tata Invests In B2B Industrial Tools Sourcing Platform Moglix

Tata Sons Chariman Emeritus Ratan Tata’s aggressive investment spree continues. And this time, the Indian tycoon has chosen business-to-business sourcing platform Moglix to receive his blessings — and an undisclosed amount of funds.

Founded in August 2015 by Rahul Garg, a former Google employee with extensive experience in building global products and running sales across Asia, Moglix focuses on technologically disrupting the B2B Industrial products space for suppliers and buyers across the globe.

The company currently specializes in B2B procurement of industrial products such as MRO, Fasteners and Industrial Electricals and is partnering with manufacturers and distributors across these categories in India, China and other Asian countries.

Moglix recently raised Pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures. The funds are being used to enhance the technology platform, build a deep supplier base as well as increase marketing spends across Asia.

Tata’s decision to back the company is just another example of his drive to invest in new age and disruptive businesses — and incidentally, is also his sixth commitment into the still young year.

Speaking on the topic, Rahul Garg, founder and CEO of Moglix said,

Mr Tata is an inspiration and we are extremely pleased to have an icon of Indian manufacturing as our advisor,

The investment, which is Tata’s maiden one as far as B2B is concerned, also marks a continuance in last years trend of increasing investor activity in B2B. Backed by Venture Capital firms or high net worth individuals, these companies are perking up and the business scenario is looking pretty good.

Meanwhile, the emeritus chairman of Tata and Sons has continued pumping money into startups. The manufacturing mogul had earlier said that the founder’s first impression and whether or not the idea managed to excite him, were the two parameters that led to his making a commitment to a startup.

So far, over 20 companies have managed to pass both these tests and raised funds from Tata, including from completely diverse areas of babycare (FirstCry) and Data analysis firm, Tracxn, recently — both of which managed to catch his attention within a month.

Tata’s newest investment would not only boost Moglix, but would also help attract investors that are still watching from the sidelines, into the game.